Ghosts Of The Past
by l0rdn1hilus
Summary: The Ancients Ghosts' battle with Pariah Dark, and how prophecy made, will influence the future. All from The Ghost Master of Time's eyes. Clockwork's POV


**Ghosts Of The Past.**

**I don't Own The Characters From Danny Phantom, If I did, I would rather...well... be RICH, and keep it running. Since, It's one of the only Nickelodeon Shows with some history, I felt bored and decided to delve into that history.**

**A/N: Hints at the Events Of Danny's First and Final Battle with Pariah Dark. **

**Clockwork Fic (Oneshot)**

"Tick-Tock" goes the eternal clock, I have seen time pass me by, ever-changing, ever-constant, always as it should be.

From my Sanctum, I have watched Time, in all it's aspects, giving me the knowledge to see it flow, to ensure that it is never set awry, to ensure that all benefit from the ability to move ever forward, to progress, and live, live life as it was meant to be lived.

I, I...am cursed; I have never been able to truly live. I have always had to live my life moving through the infinite streams of time, ensuring that the laws of temporal displacement are always adhered to.

Evil watches, ever vigilant. Placid in its knowledge that there will always be someone to manipulate, to set its plans in motion, to one day have dominion over all time, over all space.

I cannot allow that to happen.

Death looms over the ghost zone, and his name, is Pariah Dark.

The Shadow Lords, better known to the denizens of the Ghost Zone as the "ancients", have summoned their inner circle to convene upon this threat.

This news comes of no surprise to me, I have been anticipating this message, for after all, as the Master Of All Time, certain...perks come with the job.

The messenger arrives, and I answer the door.

"Lord Clockwork, the Shadow Lords have summoned you to the inner circle, the threat of evil once again looms over the Ghost---."

I hold up my hand, and the messenger understands.

"But, as always, Lord Clockwork, You would know."

And as he exits my lair, I finish his sentence

"Of course, But then again, I know everything."

I rest my staff against a nearby wall, and peel off the wax seal of the letter.

"Lords all, the Masters of Shadow once again call together the inner circle, to avert the threat of the self-proclaimed "Ghost King", Pariah Dark, who has already subjugated most of our Beloved realm. We have sworn, for Aeons, to only interfere when the sanctity of our dimension is at stake, and now, it is. Pariah Dark seeks the Crown of Fire, an artifact of incomparable power whose true limits are known only to few, and they have perished in battles ancient and all but forgotten, but---."

I do not even bother to finish reading, I know where this goes.

Violence, Indifference, Greed, Lust, I have seen these things pass me by, time and time again.

I pull the hood of my cloak to enshroud my face, and pick up my staff.

And, with a gesture, the chronal energies of the time stream warp around me, taking me when, and where, I need to be.

As the cocoon of temporal streams swirl around me, dispelling themselves. I open my eyes through the shroud of my hood, flaming red through the darkness.

I enter a dimly lit room, illuminated by the faint green glow of a luminescent table in the center; torches kept alive by undying blue flame illuminate the walls of the Ancient Sanctum of the Shadow Lords.

"You're late, Clockwork." echoes the voice of Zephyr, The Ghost Master of Life and Death.

"Time, Zephyr, is relative, one can be late, but, in another's mind, one can be early." I respond, in a low, reprimanding tone.

"As Ambiguous As ever, I see...well, Clockwork, take your seat." gestures Zephyr, his eyes narrowing to slits.

I take my seat at the far edge of the table, next to Arachnus, the Ghost Master of Emotion.

Zephyr stands up, and waves a skeletal hand, and black energies swirl about it.

An image of Pariah's Keep comes into being in the center of the table, the Fright Knight lands at the foot of the Ghost King's throne, carrying with him the Crown of Fire.

Murmurs spread through the room, and many clench a fist, heave a sigh, some even slam their fists on the table.

I, on the other hand, regret just it coming to this, but I know what comes next will have to be, and events now must be set in motion as they must.

Zephyr extends his other hand, this one covered in human flesh, tinged Green by his ghostly nature, and waves it over the Table, and instantly, the vision fades.

I stand, and make a notion.

"Fellow Lords all, I stand here before you to bring grave news, but news of which some of you may already know of. You see, my friends, Pariah Dark will not die by our hands, it is foreseen, written in the book of futures."

Ehtrin-Var, the Ghost Master Of Magic, slams his fist on the table, gesturing towards me with his tentacled fingers.

"Clockwork, is this true?"

Before I Answer, Zephyr responds for me.

"Yes, My friends, it is true, Pariah Dark will not die by our hands, his strand of life has yet to be cut by Death, that much, I have seen, that strand will not end with our intervention, but with someone else's."

Arachnus sighs, and hangs his head in discontent, and to me, he asks;

"But, Clockwork, surely you know that we cannot let this come to pass. If the Ghost King is allowed to have free reign of the Ghost Zone unimpeded, what will become of Life as we know it? Free Will? Pariah Dark is bitter, and evil. To him, Servitude is mandatory, if not, Death is the ONLY future that awaits."

I smile, and respond accordingly.

"This is true, yes, but we don't need to kill him, all we need to do is make sure he is put In a position where no-one needs fear him."

Zephyr raises an eyebrow and asks, the tone in his voice almost dripping with intrigue.

"But, what can contain him once he possesses both the Crown of Fire and the ring of rage? The objects are too powerful, the energies contained within..."

"That is why we must separate them, from him...", I respond, in a low, uncaring voice.

Arachnus stands up now, his voice brimming with excitement.

"What? What can hold him?"

I make a motion with my Time Staff, a Portal of Chronal Energies displacing the air, forming an image.

"The Sarcophagus of forever..."

Ehtrin-Var stands up, and finishes off my sentence.

"Sleep, The Sarcophagus of forever Sleep, a mystical artifact forged by my own hand. It imprisons the desires ghost inside, putting him in an unbreakable sleep...for ALL eternity."

"Why weren't we informed of this?" Zephyr asks, his head looking from side to side, his eyes shifting from me to Ehtrin's rapidly.

I respond, waving my Time Staff to dispel the portal.

"You were never meant to know, Zephyr, no-one was ever meant to, only Clockwork knows because he knows all events in time!"

As Zephyr's eyes narrow to slits, preparing to argue with me, Ehtrin-Var stops us both.

"But now is not the time, It is instead time, to enact one last, final stand. Pariah Dark must fall! And we ourselves will see to that!"

As the inner circle sets off for Pariah's keep, I stay behind, and wait.

Zephyr, the last to leave, puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Clockwork, whatever happens, is for the best..."

And with that, he disappears, a spinning skull engulfing him in a vortex of swirling black energy.

"I hope so too...my friend, For, As Ehtrin says..."

I wave my hands, and a portal in time forms.

An image of a young boy, no more than fifteen, appears, encased within a suit of battle armor, he strides into battle against the Ghost King, fighting valiantly to re-imprison him within his Sarcophagus, blasts fly, blows are exchanged, and, even as Death's cold fingers brush his skin, I know he will never give up.

With a gesture, I dispel the Portal, and a swirling egg of temporal Energy crackles into being around me.

"Now is not the time...But, Danny Phantom..."

As the swirling energies intensify, I end off my sentence.

"It will be yours."

The battle with Pariah Dark was brief yet bloody, the King had proven to be a truly powerful Ghost, but, in the end, Arachnus used his powers over emotion to manipulate his fear of Death, a fear in all beings, Ghost Or Human. Molded it, gave it intensity and transformed it into hesitancy.

And, in that moment, Zephyr and I struck.

We unleashed our attack, Zephyr Rapidly accelerated the process of entropy that came with age, literally, he was firing Beams of Pure Death itself.

I threw Chronal Orbs at the King, warping time and space around him, overloading his senses and causing him immense pain.

In the end, even through he repelled most of our assaults; he was spent, and defeated.

The Ghost King had fallen, and in that moment, we removed the crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage.

Ehtrin himself locked the Ghost King in the Sarcophagus, and entrusted to me, the key.

We demolished Pariah's Keep, tearing down the Citadel of Fear that had cast its shadow over the Ghost Zone for so long.

"The threat is over, and we now go our separate ways.", exclaimed Zephyr.

As we leave, I call Zephyr over, and pass to him, a few words.

"We will be called into service again, Zephyr, and the next time the Shadow Lords fight the Ghost King, we will not be alone, and we might not live."

Zephyr looks at me, and smiles kindly.

"I know...I have seen out strands of Life...and Death, unravel."

I finish off his sentence for him.

"But, for the good of all, we will triumph, I have seen it."

We both smile, and I put my hand on Zephyr's shoulder this time.

"Then, Clockwork, We have not failed.", he says with a wry smile.

Zephyr waves his cloak around him, and, in a swirl of White energy this time, he is gone.

With a shrug, I spin my Time Staff, and a Clock's hand Appears, taking me to an area of the Ghost Zone which is, as of yet, uncharted.

At the end of a Jungle path, lies a pedestal, decelerating Time's flow, I walk through the Jungle Path, uninterrupted on my thoughts by vicious beasts.

I lift the glass cover, and place the key on the pedestal.

Before I leave, I spin my Time Staff, and Form a portal in time.

The Same boy, only now slightly older, verging on seventeen, surrounded on all sides by allies, Human and Ghost, plunge into battle against the Ghost King and His Lieutenants.

His former enemies, the Ghosts who will come to be known as Skulker, Ember, The Box Ghost, The Shadow of Johnny 13, Technus...and more to come.

Humans too, will stand by him, His Family, his former persecutors, The Hunter Valerie Gray...they will be his sword and shield as he rides to battle.

They will stand with him against Enemies many.

The Self-Proclaimed "Master Of All Reality", the Human known as Freakshow.

The Fright Knight, Ghost of Halloween, and Master Of Fear.

Vlad Plasmius, The Hate-Mongering Half-Ghost, who only desires revenge and knows only Hate.

His Dark Side, "Dark Danny", The Evil and Resentment Of Plasmius and His Own Considerable power and fiery emotion, melded into one.

And, the Lord of them all, The Ghost King.

Pariah Dark will not only stand with the full power of the Crown of Fire and The Ring of Rage, he will stand with the Reality Gauntlet, remade by his own considerable might.

With only dominion over the Ghost Zone foremost in his mind, he and his Lieutenants will bring to bear, an Evil not seen in Aeons.

If they succeed, the Ghost Zone will fall under an age of Tyranny.

But They Will Not, This I know.

Danny Phantom will never yield, and he and his allies will dispel the Darkness that threatens us all.

We will stand with him too, knowing that even we might fall.

But, I know our duty will call to us even through fear.

We will stand, united, the inner circle of the Shadow Lords, with Danny Phantom against the Ghost King.

Until then, we wait.

As the Ghost King and Danny Phantom pit their energies against one another, blows raining, energy beams crashing against one another, they battle on, the boy never yielding, striving past the pain.

I wave my hand, and the portal disappears into thin air.

I place the glass cover back on, and wave my hand.

A clock's hand appears out of nowhere and I step into the portal it forms.

Before I leave, I pass a few Parting words.

"Time is akin to a river, it may encounter obstacles, but will always flow ever forward."

The portal fades, taking be back to my lair.

I wave my hand at my Temporal Terminal, and it forms another image of the future, showing Danny Phantom standing over the beaten Ghost King, his armies beaten, his friends and family behind him, smiling.

"And you, Danny Phantom, will see to that."

**The End.**

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